Current systems and methods that perform synchronization of content items between computers and portable storage or playback devices have certain disadvantages. For example, one difficulty is the length of the synchronization procedure. Synchronization procedures may be delayed, e.g., by bandwidth limitations for the input/output process as determined by the USB or other connection protocol. A similar limitation pertains to the processor speed. For example, if a file requires conversion before being transferred from a computer to a portable player, the conversion slows and/or delays the synchronization process considerably. A related limitation concerns when a file requires download to a local personal computer prior to synchronization on a device, which is often the case with digital music listed in a local catalog but actually stored on an internet web store for download on-demand. The download requires completion before the file can be transferred.
Another type of limitation is seen when a user's media content library exceeds the storage capacity of the portable player. Current systems for choosing which items to synchronize, and which to avoid, including smart playlists (i.e., rule-based selection mechanisms like “All songs in my library where genre does not equal ‘Christmas’”), are generally complicated and confusing to many users.
A further type of limitation relates to the cumbersome nature of current synchronization procedures, i.e., a user must indicate or build a list of desired changes, e.g., items to synchronize, and then must start the procedure. As such procedures only commence upon user command, synchronization procedures are limited to occurring only at user-specified times or at the time of initial device connection. Some systems have allowed for a degree of spontaneous synchronization—synchronization may begin for some content types as soon as new content requiring synchronization is detected. In these systems, however, any currently-running synchronization must be completed or aborted before initiating a new synchronization, resulting in a less-than-optimum method.
Yet another type of limitation relates to the synchronization process itself: users generally need to have content items to be synchronized stored on their computer in some local location. Thus, content items generally occupy valuable storage space on a user system.